[dba-Tech] Inside Out

Having just completed what I expect will be my last project in Access, and
having suffered quite enough of the MS architecture, I am seriously
considering turning everything inside out. Currently I run Windows 7 as the
base OS, and then Oracle VirtualBox atop that, and then Ubuntu as a VM
within that. Inside out means, make Ubuntu the base OS, then run VirtualBox,
and install Windows 7, Office etc. as a VM within that environment. IOW, I
would live in Linux, and a VM or two would enable me to reach back into the
Windows environment on those increasingly rare occasions when I would need
to, i.e. fix a bug in the delivered app, and now and then do some SQL Server
development and/or experiments.

But mostly I want to sever my connections with MS; keep it around as a VM
but move to Linux and take my chances there. As a semi-retired person, I
think that I can get away with this umbilical-cord severance, but before I
do something radical to my system, I want to ensure that I have all my bases
covered. I have plenty of time on my hands, so re-installing every
significant Windows program within a VM is not that big an issue.

I'm thinking....

1. Back up every significant data directory on the boot drive.
2. Boot from Ubuntu 64-bit and have it reformat the boot drive.
3. Set up all the Linux stuff I want (VirtualBox, RoR, SQLite, MySQL,
Apache, etc.)
4. Create a couple of VMs that open Windows 7, with Office 2007 etc.
installed). And purely for nostalgic reasons, try to install a DOS-emulation
VM within VirtualBox so I can run some legacy stuff.

I note that 1TB drives are dirt-cheap ($109) here in Toronto, so perhaps the
safest play is to score one of those, back up everything to it, then
reformat with impunity. I like the pirate-flavor of that, but after all
these years I'm a cautious pirate, and firmly believe in Atilla's Rules of
Order: if you're going to rape, pillage and burn, make sure you do it in
that order.

0. Before embarking upon said voyage, the first thing I would need to do is
walk through the Control Panel's list of installed programs and remove
everything that I haven't used in months; trim the basic image to the
minimal current requirements; image that, and then use that as the basic
Windows VM footprint.

Has anyone on this list tried to turn the cat inside out, as I am proposing
to do? Have I left out anything of consequence? I can think of one thing not
aforementioned: suppose that I don't want to commit to Ubuntu, but possibly
leave the door open for her sexy neighbor LinuxMint, or even RedHat? Is it
possible to create a multiboot Linux offering several flavours? I am willing
to sacrifice an MS boot as native and go with VMs for Windows 7 et.al. To be
sure I am most comfortable in an MS OS, but perhaps it's time that I grew
up.

Any advice from people who have traveled down this road would be most
appreciated.

TIA,
Arthur